Hersey teams up for victory over Huntley

A frequent visitor to the final four of the Wheaton North tourney the last 17 years, Hersey is hardly flying under the radar in its debut at the Montini Christmas tourney.

The Huskies zoned in on senior standout Ali Andrews and the Huntley Red Raiders on Monday to capture a 47-38 victory in the quarterfinals of one of the most competitive girls basketball tourney in the state.

Often guarding the Illinois recruit Andrews (16 points) with an extra body or two, the Huskies were able to limit the Red Raiders to a season-low scoring total while handing them their first loss in 13 games.

No. 4-seeded Hersey (12-1) will face No. 1 Montini (14-0) in Wednesday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal of the 16-team event.

No. 5 Huntley (12-1) will face No. 8 Batavia (13-3) at 3 p.m. in the fifth-place bracket.

"We knew she (Andrews) would be a huge threat," said Hersey junior guard Carly Cooper, who had 6 points. "But at all times we were playing complete defense on her. We could leave our person to help out on her."

Andrews, who had a pair of 3-pointers, was the only Red Raider to score a basket in the game's first 15 minutes.

When Huntley junior Morgan Clausen hooked in a 6-footer with 55 second left in the first half, the Red Raiders trailed 21-10.

"They were playing hard defense down low, and there were not a lot of areas left open to score," Andrews said. "They were doubling down low on me and I didn't make my shots."

Hersey made five shots from the floor in the first quarter, including a beautiful fastbreak layup by senior Claire Niemczyk (6 points) at the buzzer to give the Huskies an 11-4 lead.

Junior Claire Gritt (9 points, 5 steals), who played about half the game after suffering a leg injury with 3:05 left in the first half (she returned in the second half), made a nice lead pass to Niemczyk for the bucket.

The Huskies extended the lead to 17-5 in the second quarter, receiving back-to-back buckets from Cooper and Maggie Berigan, who spent a lot of time defending Andrews.

Even though it was down 30-18 at half, Huntley got back to within 37-32 with 2:12 left in the game, thanks to a pair of free throws by Clausen.

But the Huskies were terrific at the free throw line, converting 7 of 8 in the final 1:37, to clinch the win.

"This was awesome," Cooper said of advancing to the semifinals. "It was great that when they came back at us, we stayed patient and never panicked. We just kept looking for the open person."

Gina Miklasz (game-high 16 points, 4 steals) was one person who helped Hersey extend its lead in third quarter.

She started the period with a 3-point play for a 24-12 lead. Erin McGrath (5 points) scored one of her 2 baskets moments later and Hersey gained it biggest lead at 28-14 before Huntley started to chip away.

"It was really inexplicable how we played in the first half," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "I feel Hersey outplayed us, outworked us in every phase in the first half. We just didn't have a great first half at all, and you can't do that a against a team like Hersey.

"I credit our kids for coming back but we had to expend a lot of energy to do that and we just ran out of gas."

The Huskies were fueled by their defense.

"I thought our defense was consistent the whole game," Hersey coach Mary Fendley said. "Claire (Gritt) played less than a half (due to injury) and we had some miscommunications on inbounds plays (Gritt usually inbounds for Hersey).

"And Maggie (Berigan) missed time with foul trouble. We haven't spent too many minutes this season without those two. so I thought the kids handled it well."

Fendley also liked how her team handled Huntley's second-half rallies.

"We made some turnovers and they got back into the game," she said. "Carly (Cooper) and Claire (Niemczyk) both hits big shots to end their streaks. And Gina had a nice box out for a big rebound at the end of the game, then she got fouled and made two big free throws."

Miklasz and Gritt each made 5 of 6 free throws (nine of which came in the fourth quarter). Teammate Kelly Weyhrich, who led Hersey with 5 rebounds and 4 assists, made 3 of 4 free throws in the final quarter.

"We made a really nice run there to get to within 5 points at the end," Raethz said. "But we need that effort the whole game. It was really tough to sustain a run - and credit Hersey, which did a great job of regrouping. They did a great job of hitting their free throws at the end and they are well coached."

Kayla Barreto played a key role in Huntley's rally.

The senior guard, who missed Saturday's tourney opener due to illness, had back-to-back steals and layups late in the third quarter. She finished with 7 points, followed by Clausen (6) and Paige Renkosik (4). Teammate Maggie Moffet hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

"We learned that we have to play hard all 32 minutes," Andrews said. "We've had slow starts in both of our games this tournament and we can't accept that. We've got to get our minds together and play as a team. This game is over. Now, it's on to the next."